A brief and long overdue payment of my respects to two of my favourite colleagues and friends in 'the business' (of critical criminology): Geoff Pearson (1943-2013) and Bill Chambliss (1933-2014). Both made huge contributions to intellectual life, in the UK and USA, and to criminology in particular; the latter still not fully recognized by its establishment.

Geoff Pearson: a fellow Lancastrian working-class socialist, and serious United fan, who also spoke truth to power at Cambridge, somehow managing to get through Peterhouse before setting off on his distinguished career. I will never forget the fact that Geoff never scorned my appointment at Cambridge, always encouraged me to keep up the struggle,gave me gtreat advice and moral support, and turned up to give a talk whenever I asked. He understood that progress was never going to be easy and needed a large dose of Northern grit, determination, bluntness and industry. RIP mate.

Bill Chambliss: approved for Academic Press the publication of my first book, Reading Ideologies, and never ceased to support my intellectual endeavours, latterly giving me that excellent chapter he wrote for The Blackwell Companion to Criminology on official statistics. My memories include tenpin bowling with Bill, Alan Block and Marcia, and experiencing the American perception of the sport as 'blue-collar' only and not for academics, introducing me to Sandra Harding, Joel Best and other lovely people in Delaware, and tolerating my having my then 18-month old son Ben play around at the front during my guest lecture at Delaware in 1979. Bill sustained my view of intellectual life as part of a much bigger picture and that it needed some fun to stay healthy. Like him, I will always enjoy working with women around me and men with a sense of humour.